Coaches named Naches Valley graduate Garren Gooler to the All-NWAC East first team Wednesday, giving him a spot alongside three other ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÉç players, including pitcher and freshman of the year Tannon Marsalis.
Gooler also earned one of the region’s three outfield gold glove awards after starting all 50 games at center field in his redshirt sophomore season. The Portland commit ranked third in the entire NWAC with 48 RBI and hit .332 with four home runs and 62 hits, also good for third in the NWAC.
No one in the conference struck out more hitters than Marsalis, who recorded 95 strikeouts to go along with a 1.40 ERA in a team-high 83 2/3 innings of work. He posted a 7-2 record in 11 starts, highlighted by an NWAC-best five complete games and three shutouts, capped off by an eight-strikeout gem to clinch YVC’s playoff spot last Saturday.
Fellow right-hander Boston Snyder also made the first team thanks to 91 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings, second only to Marsalis. Snyder finished 5-2 in 11 starts with a 2.54 ERA.
Third baseman Jackson Walker made the first team as well and won the East’s Big Stick award thanks to his six home runs and a slugging percentage of .508. Walker led the NWAC with 52 RBI and ranked second with 98 total bases.
YVC catcher Easton Anderson won a Gold Glove award and infielders Will Feltus, Jace Fillmore and Gage Reeser all made the East’s second team for the Yaks, who will open the postseason with a loser-out game against Bellevue Friday at Lane. The winner will face Lane Friday in the first game of a best-of-three series for one of eight spots at the next week’s NWAC Baseball Championship.
Ellensburg graduate Luke Sterkel, a sophomore righthander at Wenatchee Valley, earned All-NWAC East second team honors after posting a 2.51 ERA in 46 2/3 innings.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Anderson transfers to UCSB
Former Ellensburg standout Olivia Anderson officially signed to transfer from Washington to Santa Barbara, according to a social media post from the program.
Anderson won four straight CWAC titles and completed back-to-back unbeaten state championship seasons with the Bulldogs before going to Washington as a highly-rated recruit. The 6-foot-6 center played 18 games as a freshman in the 2023-24 season, highlighted by a 10-point performance on 5-of-5 shooting in a 74-66 win over rival Oregon.
An injury ended Anderson’s sophomore season in late December and she returned to play limited minutes in 10 games last season for the Huskies, who reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. She’ll join a Santa Barbara team that went 20-10 with no players taller than 6-3.
Ike’s Stevens signs with SPU
Eisenhower guard Lucas Stevens committed to continue his basketball career at Seattle Pacific, he announced on social media.
The two-time first team All-CBBN guard with a 4.0 GPA averaged 17.5 points per game as a senior for the Cadets. He’ll join a Falcons program with a streak of nine straight winning seasons, including a 14-12 record with a season-ending loss to Central Washington in the GNAC tournament last March.
MEN’S WRESTLING
Drury wins Pan-Am gold
CORALVILLE, Iowa — Toppenish’s Landon Drury won all four of his bouts to capture a gold medal in the Greco-Roman wrestling division at the senior Pan-American Championships last week.
The sophomore at Northern Michigan and 2025 U20 national champion chose to forgo a high school wrestling career at Toppenish during the pandemic to train with retired world team member Joe Betterman in Colorado. Drury’s regarded as a top young prospect in Greco-Roman wrestling, the Olympic sport that attracts far less attention than the more popular folkstyle wrestling at the college level.
Drury’s ranked No. 2 nationally at 139 pounds and earned All-American honors as a freshman at Northern Michigan. His older brother, Haiden, just completed his final season at Utah Valley after winning three straight 2A state titles for Toppenish.
COLLEGE TRACK AND FIELD
10 Wildcats qualify for NCAAs
Ellensburg’s Josh Boast and East Valley’s Maliyah Gordon will join eight teammates representing Central Washington at the NCAA Division II track and field championships in Emporia, Kan., next week.
Boast’s season-best time of 51.45 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles ranks 15th nationally and earned him a second-place finish at last week’s GNAC outdoor championships, where the junior also took fourth in the 110 meter hurdles. Gordon captured third place in the shot put at the GNAC championships and the junior’s personal-best of 140 feet, 11 inches earlier this season ranks 19th nationally.
Standout sprinter Elise Hopper plans to run four different events after posting the West Region’s best times of the season in the 100, 200, 400 and 400 hurdles, as well as two relays. She’ll compete in the 200, 400, 4x100 and 4x400, while teammate Ellie DeGroot will give the Wildcats a runner in the 400 hurdles.
Ashlyn Nielsen, Layla Fields and Zoe Gonzales will join Hopper in the 4x100 and the other three runners in the 4x400 are slated to be DeGroot, Carley Huber and Donna Marie Harris. Julie Castillo will also make the trip as an alternate due to quick turnarounds from the individual events.
Finally, senior Drew Klein’s decathlon score of 6,908 earned him second place at the GNAC combined championships two weeks ago and the 16th spot at nationals. Events will begin May 21 and run through May 23.
All of those NCAA qualifiers earned All-West region honors in their respective events along with Ellensburg graduate Colton Magruder in the 100 meters, Klein and David Brown in the 110 meter hurdles, DeGroot and Huber in the heptathlon, Tehya Moore in the triple jump.